Number 234 - October 2002

Miss Information, Indeed
by Jean Wilcox, The Suncoast Beeper, July 2002 St. Petersburg, FL
There is a lot of information on the internet and a big part of it is reasonably easy to find. Some of it can also be waaaay over the head of someone who is just beginning to get his feet wet with computers and cyber-whatevers. And sometimes people who consider themselves reasonably knowledgeable still want a simple answer to a simple question. Not everyone wants to reveal his ignorance on any subject at all by asking his brothers, friends, or co-workers. So where do you find a place that might cater to this particular market?     One suggestion might be www.Miss Information.com. This is a clever name but don't let it mislead you into thinking that it's a joke. There is no misinformation here. This is not the place to go if you want to find out about the intricacies of the Registry or how to do an Fdisk on your hard drive. It is an excellent place to go for really quick and dirty information on a more basic level. Then, when you have some sort of foundation to build upon, you can go on to bigger and better informational sources if you feel the need. Lots of times you don't; the low-level straight scoop might be all that you require.     So let's plunge in. The first thing you notice is that high up on the web page is a blank section for you to type in your question, followed by a smaller box into which you insert your e-mail address for receiving an answer. The second thing you notice is another box, "Search the site". So you know there is a bunch of stuff already there and maybe you can find your answer without waiting for their minions to get around to your request. This is good. Who knows? You may learn something else while you're hunting up your own tidbit of knowledge. There's no such thing as knowing too much.     Glancing about a bit more on the home page of this site, you'll see that you can send free, lighthearted greeting cards, request a free newsletter, click on a button named " Ask" and find a list of assorted subjects to help you narrow your search if you're having trouble formulating your question. Another area is "Ask the Feds, a directory of federal government specialists who answer e-mail questions from the public." That's cool. What about "Bookmarks of the Rich and Famous"? Well, maybe not that one. How about "Greatest Hits" and "Advice Archives"? Now we're getting somewhere.     One thing that will strike you as you read is that there will be many links to commercial services, goods, and software vendors. This is to be expected, of course. Somebody has to pay for all this. On the other hand, once you know that there is a commercial program out there that you could put to very good use, then you know automatically that there is more than likely a shareware (or freeware, if you're lucky) application that will do the same job. So you'll have to deal with this as best you can. The dot com meltdowns of the past year or so have proven to us all that somebody has to pay. There is no 100% free ride, difficult as that fact is to swallow. So who's in charge? The following is from the site:     "Who is Miss Information? Jayne Lytel is the expert behind MissInformation.com, a weekly Internet advice column from United Feature Syndicate Inc. MissInformation.com answers readers' questions on the way the Internet is changing our personal and professional lives. She mixes wit and wisdom to deliver practical advice that's peppered with specific resources to help readers become more knowledgeable, confident Web users. Currently the owner and general manager of MissInformation.com, an Internet advice site, Lytel has been exploring and explaining the Internet to non-technical readers for nearly 10 years." There's more, and it's interesting, but you can read the balance yourself if you choose.     Clicking on Advice Archives we find Search Strategy, Netiquette, Internet Shopping, OnLine Health, Parenting, Business & Finance, Education, Relationships, Miscellaneous, and last but far from least, for our purposes, Internet & Computer. Jumping	straight into the latter then, we find a list of previously answered queries, in the neighborhood of 60-65, covering everything from "How can I improve the audio quality of Net radio?" to "How do spammers get my e-mail address? to "Can I permanently delete love letters from my computer?" They pretty much cover the waterfront as to scope. If you can't find an answer here, then there's always the fill in the box with the question and wait for the e-mail answer deal. Here's an assorted sample of entries that caught my eye: Q: How do I burn a CD from music I download?     Dear MissINFORMATION: How easy is it to convert MP3 files to CDs? I don't want to spend a lot on a CD writer if it is difficult to use. -Music Maker A: Dear Maker:     Expect some trial and error. It may take you the better part of a day or two to figure things out and get everything working properly.     You may have more problems just getting a CD-Recordable (CD-R) disk formatted properly before copying your song files onto them. Formatting CD-Rs is a real pain; it can take up to an hour. That's why I recommend buying pre-formatted CD-Rs.     To do that, you'll need a special drive for recording CDs, called CD-R or CD-RW drive, RW stands for rewritable. It should come with CD-recording software. See (http://consumersearch.com/ www/ electronics/ cd_writers/ reviews.html) for a round up of reviews of the top-rated CD burners. The next step is to convert your MP3 files to Wave (filenames end with .WAV). MP3 files won't play on a conventional CD player. WAV is simply another format that CD players can understand when playing digitally recorded audio. Convert to AIFF if you use a Mac.     Fortunately, there's plenty of free software that will not only convert your MP3 files but will also copy, or "burn," them on to a CD at the same time. MusicMatch (www.musicmatch.com) is a free one that comes highly recommended.     Depending on the length of your play list, your computer will chug along for quite some time burning the songs onto the CD-R. So, go do something else. Any extra strain on the processor is likely to result in errors, and with CD-Rs you can't erase mistakes and start over. Q: Where's the receipt in online shopping?     Dear MissINFORMATION: I'm almost ready to shop online, but the thing that bothers me the most about it is I don't get a receipt. I'm worried about getting cheated if I don't have a record of my expenses. How can I make sure I'm getting what I paid for if I don't have a receipt? - Born to Shop A: Dear Born:     There are several steps you can take to protect yourself from getting cheated. Nearly all online merchants offer purchasers an opportunity to review their order before submitting it. You might even see an order number associated with your purchase. Either write down the number or, better yet, printout a copy of your order.     Make sure you enable the date and time stamp on your browser so that when you print out the order you have a record of when you placed it. On Netscape, pull down the File menu and go to Page Setup. Here you can enable the date and time stamp by clicking on the two boxes at the bottom of the pop-up screen.     MissInformation also suggests that you look for merchants that offer e-mail confirmations. With an e-mail confirmation, the merchant will send you e-mail detailing your order and information on how to contact customer service if something is amiss. Finally, don't do business with a Web site that looks amateurish and doesn't provide at least some of the safeguards I've outlined. If you still feel uncomfortable, you could pick up the phone and place your order, but you won't get a receipt either.
Number 234 - October 2002